The Discovery
by Lily Evans29
Summary: Harry, Ron, and Ginny go to Hermione's house for Christmas, expecting a normal holiday. But when Hermione begins to teach Ginny about computers, they discover that there is something on the internet, that strangely enough, involves...them... R&R, please!
1. CHAPTER ONE

Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter. We do not own Quidditch. We do not own fanfitcion. We do not own the word muggles. We do not own the internet. We do not own Google.com. We do not own Ginny Weasley. We do not anybody in this story except Hermione's crazy relatives. We do not own transfiguration, although we do own the BRILLIANT idea of transfiguring beds into marbles. We do not own Herbology. We do not own computers or televisions, but we do own kamplooters and fellytisions, in case you were wondering. Oh yeah, and we don't own THE LORD OF THE RINGS but Emmeline thinks that she does.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: First of all, thank you for reading our pathetic excuse for a story. Second of all, yes, there are two of us. (We are both crazy and just as obsessed). Third of all, the parts about fanfiction are not meant to offend anyone who DOES write stories like the examples given in chapter five. (I think it's chapter five). This story is for humor only and is not to be taken siriusly. And without further ado.our.do you call this a story?!  
  
5th year Ginny Weasley pushed a stray strand of her flaming red hair out of her eyes and turned the page of her book "Defensive Jinxes, Hexes, and Much More! By Daffney Whimmerson" when suddenly someone came in through the portrait hole shouting "Ginny!!! Ginny!" Startled, Ginny looked up. "Oh, Hi Hermione!" she said "Why are you shouting?" Quite breathlessly, Hermione replied ,"I've just got a letter from Mum and Dad! They want you and Harry and Ron to spend Christmas at my house this year!! I'm so excited!" Then, breathing heavily, she collapsed onto the chair beside Ginny. "Oh that's so cool!" Ginny exclaimed, "Did you tell the boys yet?" "No. They're still at Quidditch practice, I think" Ginny glanced dubiously at the snow flurrying outside. "In this weather?" "Yes. Unfortunately Angelina doesn't seem much better than Oliver Wood was about understanding that people have lives aside from Quidditch.they've been out there for 2 hours already. I'm honestly surprised they haven't frozen yet!" Ginny nodded absently. "Oh- I'll have to send a letter to Mum and Dad asking them- but don't worry Hermione, I'm sure they'll say yes," she said. "You don't worry- my parents have already asked yours! You all can go!" Hermione was out of her chair again and looked like she might start doing a jig. "Really? Oh, it'll be so much fun- I wish I could have seen the envy on Dad's face when he heard I was going to spend the holidays with muggles." Hermione gave a little laugh and then suddenly said, "Oh no! I was going to catch up on my Transfiguration homework today- I've set a schedule for myself and I was supposed to start practicing turning my bed into a marble five minutes ago!" "Catching up? You? But you're like 5 years ahead in every class you take! And there aren't even five years to go! Hermione, you could graduate today if you wanted to!" Ginny exclaimed. "And besides, what if you can't change your bed back from a marble? You do want to sleep there tonight, don't you? Come on, Hermione, it's almost Christmas. You deserve a break!" "I've only done extra credit on nine tenths of my assignments! I'm not totally ahead in everything yet! And for your information, I've been working on the counter-spell and I'm perfectly capable of changing my bed back!" Ginny was about to reply when Harry and Ron came bursting through into the common room. They both looked worn-out, wet, and completely frozen. " D-do you g-guys know any w-warming ch-charms?" Ron asked, his teeth chattering. "Honestly," said Hermione, exasperatedly. " You two should learn these simple, everyday spells. What if we're tested on them sometime in the future?" But all the same, she pointed her wand at each of them in turn and muttered, " Recaleo!". "Thanks, Hermione," said Harry, "That's loads better." " You're welcome." Hermione replied. "Guess what? Mum and Dad sent a owl inviting all of you to spend Christmas at my house! It's ok with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Dumbledore said it was ok for you to come, too, Harry!" "Awesome!" Ron exclaimed, " I'll get to see a real fellytision! And maybe even a..what're they called? Kamplooters?" "Computers, Ron. And its television, not fellytision. You really should be taking Muggle Studies this year!" " Well, at least I sort of remembered the names! I didn't grow up with all that stuff, and you did! Keep in mind, Hermione, not everyone has a brain as big as yours. The worlds not made up of know-it-alls, so don't expect everyone to be as smart and clever as brilliant Hermione" Ron said in a mocking tone. Ginny didn't hear Hermione's reply, because she walked away to the other side of the common room. Ron and Hermione seemed to be fighting even more than usual lately, and it seemed that everyone in Gryffindor was complaining about it. "I don't know why they're even friends." she had heard a fourth year exclaim. "All they ever do is fight!" Ginny hoped that Ron and Hermione might be able to put their differences aside, at least for Christmas. Of course, it seemed to Ginny that there might be more to their fighting than meets the eye, but apparently neither of them had realized that yet, and were still constantly at each other's throats.  
  
The next few days went by pretty quickly. There was a flurry of activity all around the school, with people hurridly wrapping presents, owling home, and trying to finish all their end-of-term assignments, which, unfortunately, had amounted to a lot. Many people were staying this year, as some parents felt that Hogwarts was the safest place for their children, and many parents were too busy and involved in the war to have their children home for the entire vacation. Ginny had never been to Hermione's house before, nor anyone else's besides her own for Christmas before, so she was very excited. She and Hermione had become much closer in the past year or so, and although she hadn't really become part of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's little "group", she was glad that they had become friends. Hermione was fun to be around when she wasn't obsessing over her schoolwork, and, as Ron said, "It's good to know that it's humanly possible to be ahead in school- even though the rest of us never will be."  
  
The train was very quiet when it took off from Hogwarts a few days before Christmas, but they didn't mind- it was rather nice to have a compartment all to themselves, as it allowed Harry and Ron to play Exploding Snap rather loudly. Unfortunately, the whole deck of cards went off with a bang just as the witch with the food trolly came, which, needless to say did not make her overly pleased with them. "Really!" Hermione was saying as the witch walked huffily out of their compartment, patting her singed hair back into shape. "It would have been a bit more considerate if you had stopped playing when you saw her coming- and don't laugh Ginny, it makes them worse-". Ginny, who was biting her lip to keep from laughing at the stunned look on Ron's face as the disgruntled lady had waved away the smoke, swallowed her giggle just in time for a large black owl to slam against the window right next to her, making her jump out of her seat and bang her head on the ceiling. "Wonder who that's for?" said Harry leaning over a badly singed Ron.  
  
"Looks like it's from the post office- you can see the little tag on it- oh, it's from your Mum, Ginny- for all of us," said Hermione as she opened the window and took the letter out of the owl's beak. "Well, go on then," said Ron. "Open it!" Hermione tore open the envelope and read aloud: Dear Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron, I hope you all have a lovely Christmas. We would have loved to have you all here again, but Arthur and I agree that it will be a wonderful experience that you shouldn't pass up on. I hope you enjoy yourselves immensley, and Hermione, please keep an eye on Ron for me. He can be quite like his father when it comes to Muggle gadgets.  
  
"I do NOT!" Ron said indignantly. But a look from Hermione shushed him, and she continued to read.  
  
Please be careful, and don't leave the house without Mr. and Mrs. Granger's permission. I know I don't need to remind you (Ginny and Ron) to be polite houseguests. I hope you enjoy the gifts! Owl us if you need anything! Love, Molly P.S Ron, I know you asked for a different color jumper this year, but please, if you would just look at yourself in the mirror with your jumper on- it's a lovely color on you, as I'm sure Harry, Hermione and Ginny would all agree. Hermione, dear, I hope the color of your jumper is okay, I thought it would suit you.  
  
"Nooo.." moaned Ron, " I knew she would knit me maroon again-"  
  
"Oh please," Hermione snapped. "It's really nice of her to make them for all of us every year- if I was her I wouldn't bother, as you never appreciate it-"  
  
"I wish you were her then," Ron muttered grumpily, and started to pick up the cards scattered all over the floor.  
  
When they finally reached the station, Mr. And Mrs. Granger greeted them warmly. A little two warmly perhaps- Ginny was swept into a hug by Mrs. Granger, who said loudly, "Hermione's told me so much about you, Ginny dear. I'm sorry I couldn't have gotten to know you better on our previous meetings!" she let go of Ginny and turned to Harry and Ron, who were shaking hands with Mr. Granger.  
  
"Er- It's very nice of you to let us stay for the holidays," said Ron, who apparently was trying to "be a polite houseguest" as his mother had told him to.  
  
"No trouble, no trouble at all, the more the merrier, you know," Hermione's mother reassured them. After greeting Ginny, Ron, and Harry, Mr. Granger turned to Hermione. "And how's my little princess doing?" " Uh- I'm fine, Dad, but I am sixteen, you know, not six." Hermione looked horribly embarrassed at her father's nickname for her. Ron was grinning; apparently he thought this was great blackmail material. Ginny reminded herself to threaten him later. She happened to know a couple things he wouldn't want all of Gryffindor to know, either. Mr. Granger laughed a deep, booming laugh. " Of course, you're a grown-up little witch now, aren't you, princess?" Hermione's cheeks reddened even more. "Erm- Dad, let's- go home now." "Yes." Said Mrs. Granger briskly. Turning to speak to all four of them, she said,"Ok, how about I take Ginny and Hermione, and Mr. Granger will take Ron and Harry. We had to bring two cars, since you four won't fit together in one." The ride home was peaceful and relatively uneventful. The Granger's house was only 15 minutes away, so they arrived quickly. As they pulled into the driveway, Ginny had a clear view of Hermione's house. It was an all- together ordinary muggle house. It wasn't small, but it was no mansion, either. It didn't have the messy, awkwardly shaped look of the burrow, but was shaped more like a rectangle. There was a big lawn out front, and on the side of the house, what looked like a vegetable garden. It had a very homey look to it, and Ginny decided right then and there that she liked it very much. "Come on Ginny!" called Hermione, who was unloading her trunk from the car. "Let's go inside!" They carried all their belongings upstairs. Ginny followed Hermione to her room. There were two twin beds next to each other, so Ginny dumped her stuff on one and turned to Hermione. " It's so great to be here! Your Mum and Dad are really nice!" "Yeah. Even though they can be a bit- overenthusiastic- at times. I can't believe Dad still calls me his "little princess". Hermione grimaced. "Honestly, they treat me like I'm a child and I'm not. It makes me so mad, sometimes! They were completely ridiculous last year when I told them I was going to the Yule Ball with Viktor. ' Couldn't you just go with your friends, dear?' 'Isn't he too old for you?' ' I don't like the sound of that boy, Hermione' It's like they don't even trust my judgement! They know I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions but they insist on knowing about every little tiny detail in my life!" Hermione took a deep breath. She looked a little surprised at her outburst, but not sorry that she had said it. "I'm sorry Ginny. I guess I just needed to talk to someone." "That's ok, Hermione. My parents are exactly the same way. I's probably worse for me, being the baby of the family. I have Mum and Dad, and six older brothers! Believe me, I know exactly how you feel!" "Thanks Ginny." Suddenly they heard feet thundering up the stairs. "I guess the boys are here." Said Ginny, grinning. "They don't exactly know how to walk quietly, do they?" "Nope. I guess I'd better go show them where the guest room is. Be right back!" And she exited the room. Ginny walked over to what looked like a bit box with wires sticking out of it. It looked slightly familiar. Then she remembered where she had seen one before; Dad had brought one home from work a couple summers ago and had spent all of dinner trying to explain to her, Ron, Fred, and George how it worked. It was called a- a- Ginny struggled to remember. A computer! Yes, that was it. Then Dad had tried to rewire it and it had suddenly blown up with a loud "bang!". This had earned him yet another lecture one "tinkering with muggle gadgets" from Mrs. Weasley. Ginny wondered if Hermione would teach her how to work it while she was here. She was actually pretty interested in Muggles, just not when it was Mr.Weasley doing the teaching. She would have taken Muggle Studies this year, but then Hermione had convinced her into starting Arithmancy. (that was, of course, before she learned exactly what the subject was and how hard it was). Just then Hermione returned. Ginny was so engrossed in examining the computer that she would not have noticed, except that the sound of the door shutting caught her attention. "What are you doing, Ginny?" Hermione inquired, walking across the room toward where Ginny was standing. "Oh, my computer?! Well, if you want to see it, first we should turn it on!" She pressed a small, round button on the box. Suddenly the screen changed color and it made a little noise. Ginny jumped back in surprise. "W-what did you do?" asked Ginny. " I only turned it on!" said Hermione, laughing at the expression on Ginny's face. "Really, It's not that remarkable - I mean, when I first learned I was a witch, I thought that magic was loads more amazing than computers."  
  
"Well I grew up with magic- seems weird to not know about magic," Ginny said, frowning at the screen, which now had a little box on it.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"What's what? Oh, it's just telling you that the computer's loading- er, warming up," Hermione replied.  
  
"Cool- umm. Hermione, are those little pictures supposed to pop up all over the screen?"  
  
"Yes, of course- listen Ginny, it's almost dinner time, how about you can look at the computer later?"  
  
"All right," Ginny said reluctantly, and pried herself away from the screen.  
  
They had a very peaceful dinner that was only interrupted by Pig, who had somehow gotten out of his cage and was now amusing himself by dive-bombing Harry and trying to steal bits of his roast chicken. "RON! Get your- Ow! - bird- Ow! -off of me!" he yelled, while ducking under the table and waving his hands wildly above his head. Once Ron had successfully grabbed his owl, stuffed a bit of greenbean in it's beak and run upstairs, Ginny was laughing so hard that she could hardly breathe. "Does that- happen often?" Mr. Granger inquired, fighting a smile.  
  
"OH-oh- y-yes!" gasped Ginny. "Ron's owl, you know- it's a bit crazy-."  
  
The incident at lunch had wiped the computer from Ginny's mind. The rest of the evening went by quickly. It was mostly spent in the den, where Ron stared transfixed at the television, asking Harry questions every two seconds. Apparently, they were watching a movie called "The Fellowship of the Ring", which, according to Hermione, was a very popular Muggle obsession at the moment. Hermione was sitting on the couch next to Ginny, doing extra credit Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. She had given up nagging Harry about planning for their next D.A meeting (which, although the DADA professor was much more satisfactory this year, they had decided to continue). " Come on, Hermione". He said pleadingly, but not taking his eyes off the screen. "We have plenty of time to do that, later." " Just like you had 'plenty of time' to do your Herbology homework last week, and ended up scribbling it during lunch?" Hermione retorted. " Well, I just lost track of-." But Ron interrupted suddenly. Turning to Hermione, he said, " Whoa!!! Hermione, is that guy a wizard?" " No, that's Bilbo Baggins. He's a hobbit." She replied, glancing at the screen. "Well then how did he disappear if he's not a wizard!" argued Ron. " Because his ring has special powers that can make him invisible." " But Hermione! I thought this was a muggle movie! How can they make him disappear if he's just a muggle. Are hobbits muggles that can do magic or something?" " Ron, first of all, it's called special effects. Second of all, hobbits aren't real, it's a story. And third of all, if muggles could do magic, then they wouldn't be muggles, would they? Now, would you please be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate!" said Hermione, apparently trying very hard not to blow up at Ron. She muttered "Honestly" under her breath and returned to her work. Ginny thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and when Hermione offered to lend her the books, she accepted. When it ended, everyone was tired. Yawning, they all said goodnight, thanked the Grangers, and trooped off to bed. It wasn't until Ginny climbed into bed that she remembered about the computer, and Hermione's promise to teach her how to use it. " Hermione!" she whispered urgently. "Hermione!". But Hermione didn't reply. Too tired to walk over to Hermione's bed and wake her, she slumped onto her pillow and fell asleep. 


	2. CHAPTER TWO

Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter. We do not own Quidditch. We do not own fanfitcion. We do not own the word muggles. We do not own the internet. We do not own Google.com. We do not own Ginny Weasley. We do not anybody in this story except Hermione's crazy relatives. We do not own transfiguration, although we do own the BRILLIANT idea of transfiguring beds into marbles. We do not own Herbology. We do not own computers or televisions, but we do own kamplooters and fellytisions, in case you were wondering. Oh yeah, and we don't own THE LORD OF THE RINGS but Emmeline thinks that she does.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: First of all, thank you for reading our pathetic excuse for a story. Second of all, yes, there are two of us. (We are both crazy and just as obsessed). Third of all, the parts about fanfiction are not meant to offend anyone who DOES write stories like the examples given in chapter five. (I think it's chapter five). This story is for humor only and is not to be taken siriusly. And without further ado, our.do you call this a story?!  
  
Ginny was not in the best of moods when she awoke the next morning. Ron came bursting into Hermione's room at 6 o'clock, full of questions about the electric clock next to his bed. Needless to say, this made Hermione furious. Ginny watched in a daze as Hermione shouted herself hoarse at Ron, who looked slightly surprised she was so bothered by it. " You never think about other people, do you? Why do you care whether or not we're sleeping? What if we'd been changing? Ever heard of knocking? You are the world's biggest self-centered idiot, Ron Weasley. And DON'T expect me to teach you about microwaves or toasters or anything else!" " What're micro-." Ron began " Just- GET OUT!!!!!!!!!" Hermione raged, and pushed him out the door and slammed it as hard as she could. Breathing heavily, she turned to Ginny and said, "Your brother is-," " An idiot," Ginny finished. " I know." And they both began giggling, neither having the slightest idea that a very shaken Ron was listening outside the door. "Girls," said Ron, shaking his his head, and walking back to the guest room with a look of utmost confusion on his face.  
  
Luckily, It seemed that Hermione and Ron had used up their daily fighting amount, and everyone got along fine for the rest of the day- which was good, because they were very busy. Mrs. Granger agreed to take them all to Diagon Alley to buy presents for anyone that they hadn't already, and Harry and Ron insisted that they go see the sequel to "The Fellowship of the Ring." Ginny thought that muggle theatres were very cool, but unfortunately so did Ron- Ginny had a hard time keeping him from saying things like "Wow! I can't believe muggles can do this without magic!" very loudly, making people stare and mutter among themselves. ("RON! You're forgetting that we're in a muggle theatre?!") But Ginny was very glad they had come, even though it took Harry and Hermione a long time to try to explain to Ron and Ginny that muggles could make things look like they were magic, but they really weren't. Ginny knew that already, but was confused because "You'd think that with all these muggles writing books about magic, they'd notice that the same sort of stuff actually happens!"  
  
Then, when they returned to Hermione's house, they decorated the tree and the rest of the house, helped Mrs. Granger bake Christmas cookies, and tried to help both Hermione's parents put the lights up. Unfortunately, Ron was often startled into falling off the ladder he was on whenever a light flickered, and Ginny and Hermione tended to make a hopeless tangle wherever they were working. Only Harry was of any help at all ("Because Uncle Vernon makes me help him every year,") but when the other three children went inside, Mr. Granger refused to let him keep helping while they were off doing something else. Hermione started to pick up her extra credit, but Ginny, Harry, and Ron all grabbed it from her before she could do any of it. "It's Christmas eve, Hermione!" Harry said exasperatedly. "Just take a break at least until after Christmas!" Ron spent the evening working out a safe route through the house in which he could avoid all doorways with mistletoe. When Hermione asked him why it mattered that he not walk under the mistletoe, he went red all the way to the tips of his ears and muttered something about not wanting it to fall on him, which caused Hermione to look very puzzled. Fortunately, she let him be and the four of them spent the rest of the evening decorating the Christmas cookies.  
After they had cleaned up, and washed their sticky, frosting-covered hands, Hermione turned to Ginny, Harry, and Ron. "I promised Ginny yesterday that I'd show her how to use a computer. Do you guys want to come?" Harry shrugged. "Sure. Dudley had a computer, but I was never allowed to use it. I used to watch him, so I know how to work it. Coming, Ron?" "Sure!" Ron replied. "Let's go!" Ginny rolled her eyes, laughing to herself. Ron was always overly eager about anything that had the slightlest bit to do with muggles. Harry and Ron were greatly fascinated by Hermione's room itself, not just the computer. "Whoa!!!" Ron exclaimed. "Hermione, why do you have so many books?". Because, indeed, Hermione's room was full of books. There were two bookcases stuffed full, and piles in the corners and on top of her desk. Ron seemed to have gotten into Hermione's collection of photo albums, because he began laughing uncontrollably and said, " H-Hermione, in p-pigtails?" Hermione snatched the book from his hands and threw it aside. "Just because you two aren't allowed in the girl's dormitories at Hogwarts doesn't mean you can tear apart my room here!" Ginny glanced at Harry, and they both looked away, grinning. Hermione, however, didn't seem to think it was funny at all. She was glaring at Ron so angrily that Ginny felt it was her duty to prevent another hour of bickering.  
  
"Er- so- show me that turning-on thing again, Hermione?" she asked. Hermione walked frostily to the computer and pressed the little button on the side.  
  
"Once it's on," she explained, making a point of looking at Harry and Ginny instead of all three of them, "Then you can click on whatever program you want to go to. For instance-" Ginny watched intently as she put her hand over an odd shaped piece of plastic on the desk next to it. As she moved it around, a little black arrow on the screen moved with it. "Whoa, Cool!" said Ron loudly, and then went very red around the ears.  
  
Hermione ignored him and moved it to a little picture. When she pressed on the plastic thing, the picture got all dark and then a big white thing appeared on the screen. "Oh yes- and this is a mouse," she told them, following Ginny's eyes. "This program that I just opened lets you write more easily than with a quill. It's really the only muggle thing that I miss at Hogwarts- you can type much faster." She pulled out a little drawer form underneath her desk. In it was a plastic rectangle covered in little buttons. They had the letters of the alphabet and numbers on them, but a few had strange things Ginny didn't understand, like *esc* and *num lock.* She supposed they must be in a different language.  
  
Hermione put her hands over the plastic rectangle- and then her hands moved so fast that Ginny could not see what she was doing. Looking up at the screen she gasped- little words were appearing on the white thing, which she saw now must be supposed to look like a piece of that square book paper that muggles used. *Hello. My name is Hermione Granger. Don't you think that this is much easier than writing with a quill? I mean, it's much faster, and you don't get ink all over your fingers.* "Woah! Can I try?" asked Ginny.  
  
"Yes, but it takes a while to learn how to type that fast."  
  
Ginny sat down in the chair and put her hands down on the rectangle as she had seen Hermione do. *Well, what do I do now?* She thought. She pressed some fingers down. The screen now said "Hello. My name is Hermione Granger. Don't you think that this is much easier than writing with a quill? I mean, it's much faster, and you don't get ink all over your fingers.gsfuj"  
  
"Oh, I get it- ummm." Ginny stared down at the- what was it called? "Hermione, what's this thing with the buttons?"  
  
"That's the keyboard. It's not really part of the computer, you just hook it up." She pointed to the gray wire running out of the back.  
  
"All right. Uh- so how did you know what letters you were doing without looking?"  
  
"It takes a while to memorize where your fingers are, Ginny. It doesn't just come to you. And I'll gladly show you how to work the computer, but I draw the line at teaching you all how to type!"  
  
"Okay, that's fine, I mean I don't have a use for knowing how to type anyway- but what's this bar thing?" Ginny pointed to the strip running along the top of the screen. She read it aloud- "Word, File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Font, Tools, Table. what are all those words for?"  
  
Hermione took the mouse and moved the black arrow thing to font. To Ginny's surprise, a long list of words appeared, all in different ways of writing. "It's the toolbar, and these are fonts. It's like handwriting, only one person can write in all of them. Ginny looked at Ron, who looked extremely intrigued but very confused. "See- watch."  
  
She clicked on "Copperplate Gothic Bold" and wrote, It takes a while to learn how to type. It doesn't just come to you!  
  
This time Ron could not suppress himself. "That's bloody cool! WOW! How does it do that?"  
  
Hermione, who apparently was still angry with Ron, ignored him again and said, "This is only one program, you see. There's a million other things I could tell you about it, but I think I should just show you another one."  
  
She clicked this time on the "Word" and moved the arrow down to "Quit."  
  
Ginny took a better look at the picture Hermione clicked on next- It had a big blue "e" on it. Suddenly a page appeared on the screen. At the top it said , and then in bigger, colorful letters, "GOOGLE". Then there were smaller boxes that said stuff like "web", "images", and "groups". "It's my homepage", Hermione explained. "But it's also a search engine". Seeing the confused looks on Ginny and Ron's faces, she said, "A homepage is the page that comes up when you start the program. A search engine is something where you can search for information, like this one. See?" She typed "computers" into the little box, and clicked the "Google Search" button. Suddenly the page was full of writing. There were headings like "Dell computers" and " Windows XP laptops", but there were also things saying "Sell your computer on ebay.com" and "Compaq Product Information". " Wicked." said Ron, gazing at the screen. "Want to try?" Hermione asked Harry. "That way Ginny and Ron can watch one more time." "Sure", Harry replied. It turned out that Harry wasn't exactly the world's greatest typist either, since although he apparently had already known how to work a computer, he had only used one a couple times. The rest of the time went by very quickly. Laughing and talking, they continued to expirement with the computer, looking up different subjects and going to many websites. It wasn't until Mrs. Granger appeared, suggesting they all go to bed, so they would be well rested for Christmas that they realized they'd been in Hermione's room for more than two hours. Harry and Ron said good night and departed to their own room.  
Ginny did not get to sleep as easily as the night before. Though she was tired, she simply had too much on her mind. Ginny decided to list all the muggle things she had learned about while she was there, since she obviously wasn't going to get to sleep any time soon. Lets see she thought, there were microwaves, and electric clocks.lights, and of course the computer. Also, muggle movies theatres, and televisions, telephones, CD players, radios, and. she yawned, ex.tension cords. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep. Ginny slept peacefully for most of that night, except for one disturbing dream where Hermione's computer turned into Lord Voldemort and was chasing her around the house, and awoke the next morning well rested and full of the kind of excitement only Christmas could bring. 


	3. CHAPTER THREE

Hermione was already awake, and had just returned from brushing her teeth in the bathroom, looking excited, and, weirdly enough for this time of morning, wide awake. Ginny thought it seemed like she had probably woken up of her own accord this morning, rather than to the noise of a muggle- curious Ron. "Hi Ginny," she said brightly. "Want to go downstairs? You don't have to get dressed yet, everyone else is still in their pajama's. You can borrow a dressing gown of mine if you want." " Thanks. I've got one though. Are Ron and Harry up yet?" " Yes, they've been up since seven. They're watching the extended version of Lord of the Rings of DVD. I had to go shut them up a few minute ago, they were making so much noise down there, when they realized their were new scenes in it. You'd think seeing it five times would be enough for them, but noooooo. I think they're becoming obsessed, I really do." "Well, let's go and pry them away from the television, then. Does your Mum need any help with breakfast?" " Ginny, you're a guest. Besides, if you helped, first I'd have to teach you how to work the coffee machine!" " What's a cof-," Ginny began, looking puzzled. "Nevermind, let's just go downstairs!" Hermione interrupted, brushing past her and walking out the door. Ginny shrugged and followed. Harry and Ron were still watching Lord of the Rings, and despite what Hermione had said about quieting them down earlier, they were making quite a bit of noise. Ron's occasional outbursts of "Bloody Brilliant!" only added to the din. Mrs. Granger was bustling around in the kitchen, preparing breakfast, while Mr. Granger was rummaging through the hall closet in search of extra tree lights for the ones that had already broken. "He always swears we'll get a better brand the next year, since these are constantly flickering and going out, but we always keep these same old ones. It's practically a tradition." Hermione told Ginny quietly."  
  
Breakfest was relatively quick, but delicious. Mrs. Granger had made homemade blueberry muffins and hot chocolate, which according to Hermione was a pretty big event as normally breakfast consisted of wholegrain granola and fruit. Mrs. Granger let them leave the table as soon as they were finished, but not without saying, "You might want to brush your teeth again to get all that sugar off!" on their way out the door. Everyone changed into casual jeans and shirts, since there was still a lot to do, and no one wanted to ruin their best clothing.  
  
The rest of the morning was spent mostly just helping Mrs. Granger with dusting the cabinets, setting the table, and vaccuming the living room floor. At last she dismissed them, as the guests (aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins) were due to arrive any minute. Hurridly throwing on her Christmas outfit and running a comb through her hair, Ginny returned quickly, waiting to greet Hermione's relatives. Even Ron and Harry seemed to have actually tried to make themselves look decent. Harry's messy hair was still sticking up in the back, but he seemed to have tamed it a bit more than usual. A couple minutes later, the doorbell rang. After that it ran continually for the next fifteen minutes, with relative after relative arriving with armloads full of presents. Not just adults, either. Ginny was surprised to learn that the amount of cousins and second-cousins Hermione had was a much larger number than she had expected. By the time everyone had arrived her hand was tired from being constantly shaken. The living room was now full of chattering grown-ups, rambunctious children, and one sullen-looking twelve-year old. Hermione was trying to explain to Ginny who everyone was, but with some difficulty. " That's Aunt Allison, and my cousins Katie and Liza. Then, over there is my Mum's cousin and her kids, Ryan, Rosa, Rachel, and Rick." At the look on Ginny's face as she pronounced their names, she added, "She's a bit.control crazy. Wanted all her children's names to begin with R. Oh, and over there is my Mum's Aunt. Sort of eccentric, but really funny. And that's Grandma and Grandpa.on my Dad's side. And his brother's kids, more cousins, Annie and Jonathan, the two twins, and that's Loretta, she's twelve. Apparently she's upset because Aunt Martha wouldn't let her spend Christmas in France with her best friend. She always seems to find something to sulk about at Christmas, complaining that she shouldn't have to come 'just to babysit little kids who I barely ever see'. Anyway." While Hermione was pointing out family members to Ginny, Harry and Ron were trying unsuccessfully to wrestle 2 year old Ryan away from the orderves (sp?). His mother had asked them to watch him for a few moments, and they looked as though they would rather be dueling with trolls than be stuck with the job of watching Ryan. Ginny would have thought it a funny scene, had they not looked so thoroughly miserable and helpless. Excusing herself from Hermione, she went over to help them. " It's called phsycology." She explained, exasperated, " Phsy-col-o-gy. Get it?" Then turning to Ryan, she said. " I bet I can touch the TV before you, Ryan!" Turning his attention away from the plate of cheese and crackers, Ryan began to run straight for the television. " I beat you, Din-ee!" He giggled, and sat down and began to play with his shoelaces. "See? All you need to do is have patience." " Er- if you say so." Said Harry, still looking confused. Ron just shook his head. Ron just shook his head. Ginny sat down on the edge of the coffee table and looked around. It reminded her strongly about her house during the holidays- tons of relatives, laughing, talking, eating, and generally producing chaos- the only difference was that the food was all teeth friendly, something that definitely did NOT apply to Christmas at the Burrow- Fred and George could be trusted to slip a trick sweet into all the other candy and food. She smiled, and for a fleeting moment wished she were back at her house celebrating Christmas with her family, when she suddenly became aware of another difference. There was no magic- you definitely wouldn't find any trick sugar-free chocolates here. Ginny sat up abruptly and ran over to Hermione again, who was talking to one of her second cousins- Ginny had lost track of which one it was. She waited politely until the cousin walked over to the candy dish, picked up a sweet and ate it, and like just about everyone else had already done, grimaced and discreetly spat it into a napkin.  
  
"No sugar," Hermione smiled. "You get used to it though. Quite nice tasting, actually." Ginny made a face.  
  
"Yuck. But I have to ask you something. Your relatives- do they know you're- you know- a witch?" "Oh!" Hermione gasped, slapping her hand to her forehead. It looked so funny that Ginny almost burst out laughing, and had to bite her lip and look as though she had eaten a "denti-candi". "I can't believe I forgot to tell you! That's almost the most important thing! I completely forgot! How could I be so stupid!"  
  
"Really Hermione, if there is one thing you are not, it is stupid. We were just really busy getting ready and you forgot is all- don't have to kill yourself about it."  
  
"Oh, all right- you see, the uncles, aunts, grandparents, and umm- a few of the older cousins know- the young kids don't know because they would talk about it, they wouldn't know any better- and the really distant relatives don't know about it either. Families with only a few witches or wizards are encouraged to tell the smallest amount people possible, but my mum and dad couldn't bear to hide something so big from everyone- of course, not everyone thought it was so great." Hermione shrugged.  
  
"What? You mean like- they don't think it's good to be a witch?"  
  
"Most of them thought it was wonderful- Great Auntie Lindsey said she'd been 'waiting for something like this to happen for ever', and Ronda fainted- really passed out! Well, I almost did also, you know- but all four of my grandparents- they are a bit old fashioned. My mum's mom and dad were okay with it, they think it's odd, but they are polite and everything- my dad's mum got all icy for a while, but she's not that bad either- It's my father's dad, he thinks it's evil, and he doesn't speak to me anymore. I know why, he's very religious, and he believes all that rot about making a pact with the devil. But really, it's fine- he always was a git. It's a sort of improvement, actually- oh my, I sound like Harry and Ron in first year, don't I." Hermione gave a little laugh. Seeing the look on Ginny's face, she quickly said " Really Ginny- it's all right, he didn't come- and nobody else is like that."  
  
" I know- but that- it's so STUPID! Really! I cannot believe that someone would actually think like that- It's even stranger having grown up with magic. But I'll go tell Harry and Ron to make sure not to say anything- er, revealing."  
  
"Okay, and thank you so much, It would have been awful if we had a big family confrontation on Christmas- ugh, get away quick- it's Rick, he is so stupid-"  
  
Ginny hurried away. Ron and Harry we very understanding, and promised not to mention anything, although they reacted the same way she had, and were shocked that Hermione's grandfather could be so horrible. "What's his bloody problem? That old git's probably just jealous, it's his GRANDDAUGHTER, for crying out loud!" Ginny didn't bother to tell him that his description was actually pretty similar to Hermione's.  
Dinner was a very loud affair, with everyone in good spirits. They devoured Mrs. Granger's cooking in a matter of minutes, but the grownups and older children stayed at the table, while all the adults continued to "catch up" with each other. Eventually, Mrs. Granger brought out dessert, which did not taste quite as good as the rest of dinner since it was sugar- free. Ginny politely declined the cake, and was beginning to get a bit tired of sitting there. Hermione's Aunt Allison and her mother's cousin, whom they called Aunt Lydia (even though she wasn't their aunt) were both bragging about their children to one another. " I really think Katie is one of the smartest in her grade. She's very intelligent and mature for her age, and, did you know, she's just been recommended for accelerated math next year, in second grade." "Yes, well, Rosa is definitely one of the more advanced children in her school as well. She's been working so well on her holiday homework, spending hours revising for her math exams without even having to be told. I can tell she really enjoys it." This comment cause some of the older kids to grin, for anyone who had been in the living room earlier had heard Rosa complain loudly at the amount of work she had, and how her mother made her study every day for her exams, that, according to Rosa, "are more than two months away!". Finally, after what seemed ages, Hermione spoke up, "Mum, can Ginny and I please be excused?" and Ron quickly added, "Us too, please, Mrs. Granger." Mrs. Granger paused long enough in her conversation with Uncle Henry to say "Certainly!". Gratefully, all four of them rose from their chairs and left the dining room. "Hermione, can we use the computer?" Harry inquired after they had entered the living room again. "Ron and I want to look up the Lord of the Rings!" "Well." Hermione paused, "Ginny and I are going to use mine, but you two can use the one in my Dad's study, he won't mind. It's down the hallway, second door to the left." As Ginny and Hermione were walking up the stairs, Ginny distinctly heard Ron say to Harry in a puzzled tone, "Does a web address mean you have to write the zipcode too?" but they were too far away to hear Harry's reply to Ron's question.  
Ginny found herself once again amazed by Hermione's computer. She was so enthralled that it seemed like in no time at all Mrs. Granger was calling them all downstairs to open presents.  
"Wow!" she exclaimed, having just opened Hermione's gift. "This is so cool!" Hermione's present was an alarm clock that could fit in her pocket that you could set for many different times of day, and it buzzed whenever it was time for you to do something, so only you felt it. She also received a jumper from Mrs. Weasley, earrings from the Grangers, and a humongous box of sweets from both Harry and Ron. All in all, it was a very satisfying afternoon. Soon, many relatives picked up their things and started to leave. After what seemed like ages, no one was left except Hermione, her parents, Ginny, Ron, and Harry. They helped clean up the living room and the rest of the house, and by the time they were done, everyone was yawning. After one final cup of hot chocolate, Mrs. Granger bid them all goodnight, and they all retreated to their beds. 


	4. CHAPTER FOUR

Lily's Author's Notes: Once again, we owe it all to the all-powerful J.K Rowling, who would probably be appalled if she saw this pathetic story. This story will probably be one or two more chapters at the most, and we thank you so much for reading. As you know, "time is galleons!" so thanks for spending your precious galleons on us!!! Also, the mention of superman and ketchup is merely a stewpod inside joke that has nothing to do with the story and was put there mainly for the entertainment of the authors.  
  
Emmeline's Author's Notes: WE. LOVE. REVIEWS!!! Even if you thought it was the absolute worst story you have ever read, then click the "submit review" button and SAY SO!! If you don't really feel that strongly about it, then please, just leave a quick note saying "liked it" or "didn't like it" or if you want just "I read it". IT MAKES US HAPPY (and you want happy authors!). If you reviewed, thanks a million. An if you didn't, PLEASE REVIEW NOW!!  
  
A free tea cozy to everyone who reviewed, and one blue sock with the logo "I don't have a life, I have a dragon." For everyone who actually liked it!!  
  
CHAPTER FOUR That night, Ginny lay awake for a long time, the days events running through her head. All the people, the lights, the festivities, made her feel as though she didn't miss her family too much. And the computer- it was the most amazing thing that Ginny had ever seen, including the time when George accidentally transfigured Fred's arms into octopus tentacles. Hermione had showed her many strange things- but the two that Ginny really thought were cool was something that let you send letters even faster than owls could, making them seemingly magically appear in someone else's computer, and the- what was it called again?- program that displayed pictures. Ginny recognized a few of them as the same ones from the album, but to her disappointment, the computer did not make them move in the normal way. Unfortunately they had to go to bed before she could take a look at the inner-net thing. It seemed the most remarkable that even though muggles did not have magic, wizards and witches still had to pour over books for hours looking for one fact of information, while muggles pressed a few keys and had their answer immediately! She made a mental note to ask her father if there was something like that in the wizarding world. Perhaps he could combine his knowledge of magic and muggles to create something like a computer, except even better! Ginny drifted off to sleep imagining all the wonderful things you could find out in seconds....you could find out anything...everything..  
  
She was soon to discover that there are some things you are better off NOT knowing....  
  
***  
  
She awoke to a bright light shining through the window onto her face. Looking at her new alarm clock sitting on the table beside her, she realized that it was nearly eleven. She sat up quickly and looked around. Hermione was still asleep as well. Relived that she was not the only one who was exhausted, she got up. She walked to the bathroom and quickly splashed some cold water on her face and brushed her teeth.  
She threw on some jeans and a ratty old tee shirt (a hand-me-down from Charlie, with a logo on the back that said "I don't have a life. I have a dragon.", and a picture of a fiery red Hungarian horntail.) and flopped down again on her bed. She was well rested and wide awake. But it seemed as if she was the only one. There were no sounds coming from the kitchen, which meant the Grangers were still asleep, and no Lord of the Rings reruns from the TV room which meant Harry and Ron too were having a lie-in that morning. She glanced around at her Christmas presents. They were all great, but nothing she could really fiddle with or read. Then, suddenly, she remembered. Her gaze fell on the "box" on the desk in the corner of Hermione's room. The computer! She walked over and sat down in the squishy chair and pressed the "on" button. The noise it made when it started up no longer startled her, but she still marveled at the ingenious design of the machine in front of her. Once it was finished loading she clicked on the little "E" icon that stood for the internet explorer program. The colorful GOOGLE homepage came onto the screen, and Ginny mentally quizzed herself on her internet vocabulary ("homepage", "search engine", etc.) for a second before grabbing the mouse. What should she search for? She could look at most anything she wanted with the computer. Was there anything in the muggle world she wanted to know about? No, Ginny decided, there really wasn't anything she couldn't just ask Hermione about.  
  
Oh, why not? Ginny thought to herself. Feeling slightly daring she slowly typed "Ginny Weasley" into the white box and pressed the "GOOGLE search" button on the left side.  
Ginny blinked. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. At the top, in bold white print on a background of blue said the words "Results 1- 10 of 49,000".  
Ginny stared. And stared. And stared. There were headings saying things like " FATE: the Ginny Weasley fanlisting." As the title and a summary that said " The Wizard Folk Ginny Weasley. 'the thing about growing up with Fred and George for brothers'. Ginny: baby sister, best friend."  
But there was more. Lots more. People kept saying stuff about fanfiction. There was stuff about Ron. And Harry. And Hermione. And Draco. Stuff that made her cringe, things that made her blush (I mean REALLY blush), and things that made her want to throw up on the spot. (She found herself thinking "Eeeew..me and Draco?") But mostly she was just confused. Dumbfounded. Completely, completely, terrified at what she had just found.  
Something was wrong; terribly, terribly wrong. People.people seemed to know about her. About her life. About the magical world itself. And it was all here. all of it, and more, on this- this- MUGGLE -whatchamacallit- WEBSITE!!!! 49,000 results!!! Her first reaction was to run away, out of the room, and forget she had ever learned about computers. Her second was to scream. But she did neither of those things. She couldn't speak and she felt as if she were glued to the spot. Maybe- maybe it wasn't her. Maybe there was some famous Ginny Weasley in the magical world. But how would they know about Harry? And Ron? And Hermione. HOW could this be a coincidence? But what if it wasn't? She did the only thing it made sense for her to do. She regained her ability to move, leapt from the chair, and sprinted across the room towards Hermione's bed. "Hermione! HERMIONE!" Ginny could barely keep her voice down to a whisper. She pulled the covers off of her friend to find that Hermione had a book lying on her face. Ginny could only hope that she had gotten enough sleep to actually wake up. "HERMIONE WAKE UP!" she said, not bothering to whisper anymore. "AAAAI!" Hermione suddenly sat bolt upright in bed, consequently banging her head very hard against Ginny's skull. "Ow," Hermione muttered groggily, coming to her senses. "Sorry, I was having this crazy dream that bottles of ketchup were squirting at me from all directions, and then Snape showed up in a superman suit and- Ginny, are you all right?" Hermione gave a large yawn. "Wha-ahhhh-ts the matter?" Ginny fought to stay calm. "You are never going to believe this. Never. Never. Oh my god. I mean, how did they find out? They're muggles- how- how in the world- Hermione- they know about me. I mean, not just that I exist, but ALL ABOUT ME! All over the Internet, you too and everyone else almost everyone else at Hogwarts" "Ginny. Stop. You're going to hyperventilate. What's wrong? What's all this about being on the Internet?" Ginny took a deep breath, but her head still felt like it was spinning. "Okay. I woke up, and I really wanted to try out your computer. So I got up and went on the Inter-net. I'm sorry I didn't ask your permission," she added hastily. "I don't care. You can use it whenever you want. Go on." "No way. I never want to use it again. Well, not the Inter-net, anyway. I went to Google, and then I did a search engine thingy, except I couldn't think of what to look for." Ginny couldn't take the time to remember the proper names for things. "So I just typed in my name. I dunno, I thought maybe I would read about other people with the same name as me or something, I really wasn't thinking about it, and then I looked and there were thousands of results, I'm not exaggerating, Hermione there were thousands, and there were things about you and Harry and Ron and Mum and Dad and Fred and George and Bill and Charlie and Percy and Malfoy and it wasn't good either, most of it, but never mind that! The point is that EVERYONE can go and see everything about us, even muggles, and everyone is going to find out about magic if we don't do something! Not to mention that there is STUFF about me! On the Netthingy!" "Hold on. Slow down. Are you telling me that we are on the Internet?"  
"YES! Haven't you heard a THING I said!?" "I'm just trying to take this step by step," Hermione said irritably. "Panicking isn't going to do anything. So, on the World Wide Web, there is accessible information about you and those around you. And what sort of information is it again?" "Well- I only looked at a bit, but it's all there- my family members, where I live, and stuff about things at Hogwarts that happened to me but there was also some things that WERE NOT TRUE AT ALL. I mean, really! I have no clue what is going on, but I do know that I will NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER let Malfoy the supreme prat of the universe come NEAR me again!"  
  
"Ginny- are you saying that some things on the web suggested ,er, a relationship between you and.MALFOY? Ew." "I know! But come see for yourself it's crazy." Hermione dragged herself out of bed and walked over to the computer, squinting at the screen in front of her. After a few minutes, Ginny ceased her muttering of, "How did they know? How did they know? How did they know? How did they know?" to ask, "Hermione, are you all right?" Hermione was still staring at the screen, her mouth hanging open. It was probably the closest to stupid anyone would ever see her look. "Oh my god," she said. "Oh my god."  
************ During breakfast, Ginny and Hermione had tried to seem as normal as possible. Since everyone had stayed up extremely late last night, they were too tired to notice anything different. The soonest chance they got, they dashed upstairs to decide what to do. "We definitely shouldn't tell anyone yet," Hermione said as soon as they closed the door. "It's insane enough already. Besides, Harry and Ron are having fun, and I don't want to ruin their holiday." Ginny snorted. "All they're doing is watching the special features of 'The Lord of the Rings." But I think you're right. What're we going to do though? We have to tell somebody!" "Yes, who though? The obvious person would be Dumbledore, but I don't know how to contact him" "Just ask Harry to borrow Hedwig. She's so smart, I borrowed her to send a letter to my friends, and she found them even though she'd never been to their house! Don't even bother trying Pig, he's smart enough I guess, but whenever he sees a new place he won't leave." "Well, we could give it a try but that means we somehow have to pry Harry's attention away from "The Lord of the Rings" to ask him." "Oh no. That's impossible then, better think of another idea." Hermione managed to give a little laugh, but they were both feeling so confused that Ginny didn't think her heart was really in it. It seemed that Hermione wasn't confused enough to let up on Harry and Ron though. After thanking Harry for agreeing to let them use Hedwig, she frowned and looked at Ron, who was staring open mouthed at the screen. Currently there seemed to be large amounts of blood streaming from "Sam's" foot. "I am going to make you two read the book." She declared firmly. "And DON'T tell me it's too long, Ron, if you are this obsessed with it you won't mind." 


End file.
